Kansas Snapshots by Gloria Freeland - October 18, 2024

"It happened so fast!"

As one who has arranged any number of events, ranging from meetings of national organizations to family wedding receptions, I'm familiar with how weather and competing activities can affect attendance. Having people register or RSVP can be a great help in judging how many might attend. But I recently helped plan a free and open-to-the-public program, so we had no idea whether five or 50 would show up. We didn't have much history to judge by either, which is a tad ironic as the event was the quarterly meeting of the Riley County Historical Society.

While the society and the related museum have always tried to serve the entire county, both have been somewhat Manhattan-centric. I suggested the October quarterly meeting be held at and about Keats - the small village I call home. So, it was a bit of an experiment. Would people see it as a fun opportunity for locals to reminisce about the past or an easily-skipped snore-fest? We did entice folks some by letting them know there would be free pie.

Carol and Jana - fellow program committee members - and I arrived early, along with Katharine, the museum director. Kent, a professional videographer and Keats resident, set up his camera, laid cables, and tested microphones while we arranged tables and chairs.

At first, people trickled in and then, before we knew it, the room was full. Folks were scurrying about adding extra chairs at the back and Jana dispatched husband Greg to buy more pies.

Keats is a village of about 100 people located seven miles northwest of Manhattan. It began just as many rural Kansas villages had. It was a home for Indigenous tribes until white farmers arrived in the middle of the 19th century. In Keats' case, enterprising farmer John Stephens added a small store to his home to sell common goods he and his neighbors would otherwise have to obtain in Manhattan. Securing the federal post office meant those same neighbors would drop by to get their mail and hopefully make a few purchases as well.

As the years passed, a blacksmith shop, a cheese factory, a bank, two schools, a grain elevator a stockyard, and service stations were added. About 1887, the Rock Island Railroad had bought the land, platted a small village, and sold the lots to people more predisposed to town life than farming. Tracks were laid from Manhattan along the south edge of Keats and continued to the county seat of neighboring Clay County.

But unlike many of those other small places, the coming of the automobile didn't kill Keats. The businesses and the railroad are gone, but Keats lives on with new home owners replacing others who die or move away. The Lydia Ladies, the Lions Club, 4-Hers, the Silver Creek Beneficiary Club, and other organizations sponsor meals and other activities that keep the community vibrant. The calendar for October on the community's website lists 11 events, and the local park and shelter house are in use most of the year for softball games, shooting baskets, children using the playground equipment, family gatherings, such as reunions, or walking along the tree-lined trail.

My part of the meeting involved moderating a panel that included long-time Keats residents Marcella and Mel and former high school history teacher and county historian Kevin Larson. After welcoming those attending, I asked the panelists what they recalled about the schools, businesses, and church; how the expansion of nearby Fort Riley and the building of Tuttle Creek Dam affected those living in the Wildcat Valley; the history of Keats Park; and the organizations that are still active.

The initial discussions were of a more serious nature. Marcella mentioned she is the fourth generation of her family to live there. She spoke about her father Alton, who ran Chapman's - the town's last filling station. Mel mentioned that the Lydia Chapel was named for pioneer Lydia Edelblute. He and Kevin discussed how the taking of land for the fort and the reservoir tore families apart as people were forced to move. Kevin shared that when Kansas decided to consolidate small rural schools, one Riley Countian took it upon himself to organize meetings encouraging local groups to cooperate in forming a joint district. In the end, the 111 gatherings were successful and today, Unified School District 378 is the result.

As time passed, the stories trended toward the less serious. One involved a young man who scrimped and saved to buy his class ring as high school graduation approached. He put his meager savings in the local bank for safekeeping, but the bank was robbed. He never got his class ring.

One person asked how the village was named. Husband Art mentioned his research revealed that the area was originally called Wild Cat after nearby Wildcat Creek, but was often referred to in Manhattan as Cheese Factory because of the village's creamery. Someone said it became Keats when the railroad came through and the division manager chose the name because he was a fan of the English poet.

Mel related the "story" about the turtle coming along Highway 412 from Manhattan when it was struck by a snail going north on Main Street. The authorities found someone who saw the crash, but he said he wasn't quite sure what had transpired because it "happened so fast!"

That was our clue to call it a night.

The audience was a nice combination of people who lived in Keats, the nearby Wildcat Valley and those who had come from Manhattan and other nearby towns. When the official program was over, people milled about to catch up with neighbors, meet new friends, and look over the tables filled with artifacts - yearbooks, newspaper articles, 4-H ribbons, a tiny Sunday school chair, and many others.

Katharine told me she counted 101 in attendance, perhaps the largest such program we’ve had.

As for me, I'd judge the experiment a success, although I cannot say for sure because "it happened so fast!"